Abstract
This article chronicles the recent history of the debate in the United States over digital paywalls, a model often hailed as newspapers’ savior. We show how this debate has evolved from emphasizing industry-wide adoption to focusing on individual experiments. While highlighting potential legal, economic, and democratic concerns with paywalls, we examine the empirical record of three prominent newspaper paywall models: the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Dallas Morning News, and the New York Times. While each has enjoyed varying levels of success, our analysis suggests that paywalls are unable to offset steep losses in advertising revenue. We conclude by briefly discussing non-commercial alternatives.
Keywords:
Notes
1. These 2012 circulation numbers are from the Audit Bureau of Circulations and include digital subscriptions.
2. In late September 2013, the Dallas Morning News announced that it would immediately discontinue its paywall.